By Stephen Stirling

Deaths from drug overdoses likely topped 2,000 in 2016, killing more people than guns, car accidents and suicides combined, according to analysis by NJ Advance Media.  

The grim figure is the highest ever recorded in New Jersey, spurred by continued growth of the opioid epidemic. Heroin was likely involved in more than 1,200 deaths, while fentanyl, which killed just 46 three years earlier, likely killed more than 800.

NJ Advance Media estimates there were between 2,090 and 2,250 drug deaths overall in 2016, up from 1,587 the year prior.  

This would mean drugs, largely opioids, were responsible for the death of a population greater than more than 60 New Jersey towns.  

"There's no easy fix to the epidemic of opiate addiction, which means we must continually re-dedicate ourselves to the hard work of fighting it on every front," state Attorney General Christopher Porrino said after the state released data for the first six months of 2016 Wednesday.

 (Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

NJ Advance Media developed the estimates on drug overdose deaths through a combination of acquired county estimates, historical analysis and newly-released data from the Office of the Medical Examiner (see methodology below).

Porrino noted that the explosive growth of fentanyl in the illicit drug market is the chief driver of the increases. Fentanyl is up to 50 times as powerful as heroin, is often unknowingly used as a lacing agent and can be difficult to reverse with overdose antidote Narcan.  

Unlike other opioids, it is completely synthetic, making it easy to manufacture. Its power makes it easier to traffic in smaller sizes and harder to intercept by law enforcement.  

"It even poses a problem for K-9s to be honest. If they're sniffing around and get a hit they can overdose and die themselves," said Joseph Coronato, Prosecutor in Ocean County. "The advent of synthetic opioids has made things much more complicated and a much deadlier scene all around." 

Coronato said he believes Ocean County will likely end up with close to 250 overdoses in 2016 when results are finalized later this year. So far, he said the first six months of 2017 look no different. 

He also said fentanyl appeared in more than 60 percent of the heroin packets they recovered last year, up from 10 to 15 percent just two years earlier.

Heroin remains the single deadliest drug in the state, killing between 1,210 and 1,350 people, analysis shows. But while heroin remains the heart of the opioid crisis that has killed thousands in the last decade, the at least 1,800% growth in fentanyl deaths since 2013 shows the drug market is evolving rapidly.  

Deaths from prescription drug Oxycontin, the overprescription of which is largely blamed for the current opioid crisis, also rose in 2016 after several years of decline, indicating diversion of prescription drugs remains an issue in the Garden State.

Porrino released the numbers at a press conference announcing the arrest of a North Caldwell doctor and several others, who allegedly ran an illegal prescription drug operation that channeled more than 50,000 pills down the Garden State Parkway.  

Last month, NJ Advance Media reported that fentanyl is being prescribed by family doctors and pain specialists at an alarming rate. 

The scourge of opioids has forced law enforcement to adopt new strategies to fight the crisis.  In Ocean County, anyone suffering from substance abuse issues can turn themselves into one of several police departments on selected days of the week and receive entry into detox and rehabilitation programs free-of-charge.   

Methodology

To develop its 2016 estimates, NJ Advance Media acquired first preliminary drug overdose data from the majority of the state's counties.  Using this and official death totals for the first six months of 2016, released by the state Medical Examiner's Office this week, we were able to develop estimates for the entire state. 

We checked these estimates against historical data for the second half of the last several years, to note if there was any seasonal anomalies that needed to be accounted for (there were none). We added a margin of error of +/- 5 percent, which are the estimates you see above.

The data will be available on our Data.World account within the next 24 hours.